A Different Look At The NHL Standings

Points tell part of the story, but over time a team’s record tends to gravitate towards it’s goal differential. In the early going, it can make more sense to look at goals for and against then where a team is sitting in the NHL standings.

What do the Western Conference standings look like if we arrange them by goal differential?

Team

Goal Differential

Actual Rank

Detroit

16

4

San Jose

14

3

Vancouver

10

7

St. Louis

8

5

Edmonton

6

9

Chicago

5

1

Phoenix

5

6

Minnesota

2

2

Los Angeles

0

10

Nashville

-3

11

Dallas

-5

8

Colorado

-9

12

Calgary

-10

13

Columbus

-21

15

Anaheim

-26

14

Detroit, San Jose and Vancouver are all in double-digits (in a good way) by this measure, while the Ducks and Blue Jackets are way, way down the standings (and while Columbus has the excuse of lousy goaltending, Anaheim does not).

The big movers are Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Edmonton. Chicago and Edmonton played a 9-2 hockey game not all that long ago, and those seven goals have a pretty big impact on total goal differential, so it might be a bad idea to read too much into where they rank – without those scores, Edmonton would be minus-1 and Chicago plus-12. Minnesota and Dallas, on the other hand, are probably being flattered by their current records.

Still, it’s another sign that the Oilers have been competitive with the West’s best teams.

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